Hunters of game, including waterfowl, commonly use decoys to attract the game to the proximity of the hunter. Decoys for all types of game and waterfowl have been commercially produced for many years in a variety of types and forms. Many such decoys are rigid replicas of the game being hunted. The more realistic appearing the decoy, the more effective it is. Decoys are commonly made from a variety of materials, primarily plastic, and they are commonly made in rigid or semi-rigid form. However, depending on the type of game being hunted, the decoys can be quite bulky and occupy a considerable amount of space while the hunters are traveling to the remote locations where they are going to hunt. Therefore, in recent years some decoys have been made of flexible material so that they can be collapsed and folded so as to occupy less space. An example of such flexible foldable decoys produced by a vacuum forming process is shown in Remus U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,444. These flexible decoys, when unfolded and expanded, provide a quite realistic three-dimensional decoy. At the present time, the only known process for producing these flexible decoys is to produce them by a vacuum forming process in which a flexible, closed cell expanded foam, such a polyethylene is used. This allows the figure of the decoy to regain its shape after storage and during use, thus producing a somewhat realistic decoy. However, decoys produced by a vacuum forming process are relatively expensive to produce, are subject to becoming torn if not carefully handled, and are limited in the degree of detailed realism that can be obtained at a reasonable cost.
There is therefore a need for an improved flexible and collapsible decoy that is stronger and more durable, more realistic and which can be produced at a lower cost. Although there have been suggestions of producing these decoys using a blow molding process, all attempts to date have been unsuccessful in producing a satisfactory commercially acceptable product.